Author: Thorsten Sahlin

It’s been roughly a year and two months since the release of the phenomenological hurricane, PokémonGo. Admittedly, I bought into the hype hard. It was the perfect amalgam the modern smartphone technology to which I am reluctantly dependent, and the nostalgia my generation (xennial, millennial) revels in. This combination contributed to the massive success PG achieved at its inception. In its first month, PG set the record for most revenue grossed by a mobile game in its first month, most downloaded in its first month, most international charts topped simultaneously by a mobile game in its first month (downloads, and revenue), and fastest mobile game to gross 100 million dollars. Clearly, I was not the only one under its spell. Despite its success, my interest waned quickly, as did the interest of basically everyone else I knew. The glitz of it all faded when we realized that it was a serious time investment, and let’s be serious, if you’re in your late 20’s/early 30’s, if you’re lucky enough to not be off work and outside, hurling poké’ balls via flicks of your smart phone is probably the last thing on your mind.

‘Whistler’s Mother is LeBron James’ Thorsten Sahlin’s first piece for COA. You can check out his new author Q&A piece here if you want to know a little more about people that actually enjoy Malort or being from everywhere and nowhere all-at-once.

It is not without an eye roll that I hear about a world-famous painting exhibiting at the Art Institute of Chicago. Individuals who normally wouldn’t spend 1.5 seconds on a lesser-known painting come in droves to view a work because someone else told them it’s important. With this in mind, I had reservations about going to see Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1 (Whistler’s Mother). Is this epitome of all things matronly worth trudging through the galleries of screaming children? Is it worth listening to their khaki-baptized parents summarizing the description from the pamphlet to one another as if these are their own takeaways from the piece? Oddly enough, the answer for me is almost always yes. After, all someone told me it’s important. Continue reading →